The Great Dictator was Charlie Chaplin taking a stab right at the heart of a certain german historical figure that I do not care to mention in my blog. It is enough to say that his style of mustache went out of style very quickly… I’ll leave it at that. I have yet to see the film in its entirety but I have watched Chaplins speech numerous times on youtube. This version paired with Hans Zimmers music from inception is one of my favorites. The speech is filled with quotes, themes and inspiration that is timeless and more relevant into todays society than ever before.

I have been trying to get into the city with my wife for a few weeks now to see the film A Seperation. This indie movie has received praise from just about every critic in the film world and rightfully so. The movie was masterfully shot and edited, and the story both simple and complicated at the same time. Your left with tension till the very end.

Today I had a rare chance to watch the movie Vertigo in a movie theater. Alfred Hitchcock’s use of suspense through out the movie is intensified through out by Bernard Hermans score. From the very beginning the music spirals around in one of the most masterful displays of composition in film score history. This is the 4th or 5th time I have seen the movie in its entirety. Watching it on the big screen with an audience full of people magnifies everything.

Even if your not a film junkie this is a movie you must add to your watch list.

I watched The Kings Speech last night on DVD from Netflix. I have officially seen every movie that has won the Oscar for Best Picture. Amongst all of those movie’s The Kings Speech has fallen on my list of “good but I don’t know about the Oscar for best picture”. THe King’s Speech was a captivating drama I just felt it needed a bit more tension. I wanted to see more of the actual work between the future king and the speech therapist. A bit more master yoda teaches the young jedi.

At a point I wanted the King to call out the speech therapist on his failed acting career. It was clear that the speech therapist had his own set of issues, but the focus remained mainly on the king.

The best part of the entire movie was when the king began a tangent of curses and expletives.

I didn’t hate this movie and despite my thoughts about it I didn’t find it flawed, It was a good movie. It just wouldn’t have been my pick for Best Picture. There was just nothing here that left me saying wow. I felt that Inception was a damn good movie and I have yet to see the Black Swan and the Social Network. I suspect that the Social Network or The Black Swan will be a bit more exciting and worthy. But then again you never can pick what the Academy Will like.

I love movies. I watch a lot of movies. Usually some place between 50-100 films per year. I watch them from two perspectives. First as a composer, paying attention to the score and then as a director, paying attention to every little detail. This afternoon I watched one of Martin Scorsese’s early films called Mean Streets. The movie wasn’t the greatest movie however you could see how Scorsese begins to find himself as a director. A few years later he would go on to create Goodfellas which of course next to the Godfather is one of the greatest mob movies ever made. Watching Mean Streets you could see Scorsese practicing his craft. Many similar shots and locations were used. Both movies also used similar style music throughout the film in place of a more composed score. It is a very educating to watch the progression of great artist become a master. Watch it streaming on Netflix anytime, then watch Goodfellas and enjoy one of the best directors of our time.